Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 244 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 244 shares during the quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $1,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CAT. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,212 shares during the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $230,000. Cadinha & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $11,084,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,414,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the period. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 3rd quarter worth about $800,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total value of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CAT. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $383.80.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $329.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $354.99 and a 200 day moving average of $372.24. The company has a market cap of $157.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. Caterpillar Inc. has a 52 week low of $307.05 and a 52 week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.